ROKICKI@SU-SUSHI.ARPA (04/14/86)
From: Tomas G. Rokicki <ROKICKI@SU-SUSHI.ARPA> In reply to Jim Reich: Have you ever tried to SUPPORT a software package? Help users who don't understand directories, don't have their printer hooked up correctly, think control-\ means "control-\"? And then, the other end of the spectrum, those expert users who want more features? Or how about revisions, bug fixes (any appreciable program has bugs; ask any compiler writer) and changes to the operating system? It very quickly becomes a full time job, and it continues long after the program has sold most of its copies. Books don't require the level of support software does; most people can read and turn pages. (Uh, scratch that, I really don't know that most people can read.) The risk is great as well; for every program that makes it, there are a bunch that don't. Give me a break. Borland took a risk; they banked on selling enough copies to make enough money to offset their large prices. At the moment, there simply are not enough Amigas out to take those risks. -tom -------